How much lean b4 you shim up the stand?

[Delphinus]

You say the sides of the tank were perfectly vertical before you shimmed?

Are you sure the wall is level (100% vertical)?

What I'd do, if it was me, is measure the level of the tank horizontally in both axes, and then shim based on that. Now, if it was my tank, and I did that... and the distance to the wall wasn't the same at the top and bottom, then I'd assume the wall is out, and leave the tank alone.

(If, however, I then found that the sides weren't vertical anymore, after verifying the tank is level horizontally, then I'm not sure what I'd do. Contact the manufacturer, I guess. I don't make tanks for a living so I can't claim to have a deep understanding of the processes involved, but it seems to me that there's no reason for the tank not to be perfectly square when empty. I think it would mean the edges weren't squared or that the glass isn't sitting squarely against each other.)

[targaboy78]

Hi Delphinus,

Thanks for the info.

Just for clarification; When I took the tank off the stand and checked, it was the stand that was out.

I was not measuring from the wall, (I would bet money that my walls are not square), I was using a water level.

The sides were 100% vertical and still are.


But I sure do feel better about everything now. Time to start plumbing it in.

[kari]

, I found one wall in my house that was actually plumb when it was built.

If the tank is sitting on a wood framed floor, the floor is probably sagging or the stand is not built square. If it's the stand, shim it to sit plum, surface level and flat. If it's the floor I'd look at supporting it with additional framing. Use a 3' or 4' carpenters level to scope out level-a-tude. A carpenters type square to check if the stand frame was built square.

[kari]

Oops, to answer the question I would say make it as level as you can.

[Myanth]

I built a metal stand out of square 1"square tubing on the top and shelf and 1 1/4 round pipe legs with 1 inch threaded rod attached to feet so that the pipe legs stand on the nut on the rod. I hope that made sense cuz I don't have a picture.

Anyways.... I knew my slab wasn't level because I have um.... water leveled it before and this way I could adjust for any plumb/level issues. stands perfect now. Might be an idea as I know a few people who after all their original messing around, found that the loaded tank caused a settling of sorts that resulted in an uneasy lean.

my $0.02
Mike

[TheReefGeek]

Make sure you put foam (3/4" pink stuff from the hardware store works) between the stand and the tank as well.

[Osiris]

The way I leveled my 120 is I filled up my aquarium 1 inch above the bottom, made a mark on a piece of scrap Red Oak that I trued on my chopsaw and went all around the tank and shimmed accordingly.


Wayne.